'They're pathetic!' Donald Trump's Cabinet confesses 'loathing free-loading Europe' as secret messages leaked

The virtual war room contained precise information about weapons packages, targets and scheduled timings for the March 15 strike in which more than 50 people died.

The group chat included high-ranking officials such as Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

Members complained about defending "free-loading Europe" whilst discussing the Yemen operation.

The airstrikes were designed to prevent Houthi attacks on commercial ships travelling through the Red Sea to and from the Suez Canal.

The leak revealed internal debates about the strategic justification for military action.

In the leaked chat, Vance expressed concerns about the operation's public perception, writing: "I just hate bailing Europe out again. Three per cent of US trade runs through the Suez. Forty per cent of European trade does."

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Hegseth responded: "VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's PATHETIC. But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close."

The US Government confirmed the group chat was genuine but attempted to downplay the incident.

Brian Hughes, spokesman for the National Security Council, said: "This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain."

He described the thread as "a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials".

Trump claimed he did not "know anything about it" and dismissed The Atlantic as "a magazine that's going out of business".

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle criticised the cabinet members for using a third-party server to discuss highly-sensitive information.

Republican Mike Lawler said: "Classified information should not be transmitted on unsecured channels and certainly not to those without security clearances, including reporters. Period."

He added: "Safeguards must be put in place to ensure this never happens again."

After the Yemen strikes, cabinet members congratulated each other in the Signal chat with American flag and fire emojis.

The incident has drawn comparisons to the scandal surrounding Hillary Clinton's private email address, which helped sink her election campaign against Trump in 2016.

The revelations are likely to trigger major questions about security within Trump's Cabinet and the handling of highly sensitive information.

Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic journalist, said he was added into the group chat two days after receiving a connection request from Michael Waltz on Signal.

Houthi rebels attacked over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones from November 2023 until January, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors.

Their campaign in the Red Sea was waged in support of Hamas amid Israel's bombing of Gaza.

Trump stated his administration targeted the Houthis over their "unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence and terrorism".

He warned: "We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective."